Coupling device

ABSTRACT

A railway coupling device incorporating a head having an upper corner and a front wall having a rearwardly extending lug, and a lock having an upper corner and a substantially flat front surface. The front surface is slidably engagable with the lug during initial movement of the lock and the upper corner of the lock is engagable with the upper corner of the head for subsequent pivotal movement.

United States Patent 1191 Holibaugh 1 Oct. 23, 1973 COUPLING DEVICE [75]Inventor: 11511111 WilTiam ffomaugli, Park Forest, Ill.

[73 Assignee: AMSTED Industries Incorporated,

Chicago, Ill.

' 22 Filed: Jan. 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 217,736

[52] US. Cl. 213/127, 213/146 [51] Int. Cl. 861g 3/08 [58] Field ofSearch 213/127, 142, 146

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,948,414 8 1960 Metzger 213127 1,294,343 2/1919 Kelso 213/127 1,144,024 6/1915 Blackmore 213/1272/1916 Geddert ..2l3l127 8/1939 Metzger ..213/127 [57] ABSTRACT Arailway coupling device incorporating a head having an upper corner anda front wall having a rearwardly extending lug, and a lock having anupper corner and a substantially flat front surface. The front surfaceis slidably engagable with the lug during initial movement of the lockand the upper corner of the lock is engagable with the upper corner ofthe head for subsequent pivotal movement.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures COUPLING DEVICE This invention relatesgenerally to couplers for railway cars. More particularly it relates toan improved lock for use with couplers designated as standard by theAssociation of American Railroads (A.A.R.) and currently in general use.

Standard A.A.R. couplers have been in use for many years. Such use hasshown that difficulty is often experienced in moving the standard lockfrom its lockset position to its knuckle-throwing position. This resultsfrom resistance to movement of the standard lock relative to the frontwall of its associated coupler head. It normally requires a force in therange of 36 pounds to move the standard lock from its lockset position.

This invention involves pivoting a lock relative to its associatedcoupler head in an area remote from the pivoting area now used instandard A.A.R. couplers. This difference results in a requirement ofless force to throw the knuckle and in more positive throwing underadverse conditions. I

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedlock capable of being used with standard A.A.R. couplers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coupling deviceincorporating an improved lock omitting the fulcrum lug.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coupling deviceincorporating an improved lock which pivots relative to its associatedcoupler head in an area remote from the pivoting area now used instandard A.A.R. couplers.

Another object of this invention is to provide a coupling device capableof throwing its associated knuckle as a result of less applied forcethan the force currently required in standard A.A.R. couplers.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon consideration of the specification herein,including the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a standard A.A.R. coupler, partially in section,incorporating the improved lock in the lockset position;

FIG. 2 shows a standard A.A.R. coupler, partially in section,incorporating the improved lock in the knuckle-throwing position; and

FIG. 3 shows the improved lock as it differs from the standard lock. 1

Describing the invention in detail and with particular reference toFIGS. 1 and 2, a coupler head generally designated 2 is in every respecta standard A.A.R. coupler head. Coupler head 2 includes an upper wall 4and a front wall 6, the lower portion of which defines a rearwardlyextending lug 8. A knuckle is pivotally mounted within coupler head 2 inthe usual manner and comprises a nose portion 12 adapted to interlockwith the nose portion of a mated coupler knuckle. A knuckle thrower 14is pivotally mounted on a vertical axis within coupler head 2 and ispivotally movable into engagement with knuckle 10 so as to effectengagement and disengagement of knuckle 10 with an associated couplerknuckle.

The operating mechanism includes a rotary locklift assembly ofconventional design mounted on arm 16 of a conventional rotor (notshown) for rotation therewith. Hook 18 is connected with a lever 20,which in turn is connected with a toggle 22 having a trunnion 24thereon. Movement of arm 16 causes rotation of hook l8 and, througharticulated elements 20 and 22, causes movement of trunnion 24.

The improved lock 26 is shown in detail in Figure 3. Lock 26conventionally has a head portion 28 and a leg portion 30 defining aslot 32. Trunnion 24 of toggle 22 is engaged in slot 32 of lock 26.Movement of trunnion 24 causes movement of lock 26.

Head 28 of lock 26 defines a front surface 34 which is flat in agenerally vertical direction. Front surface 34 extends from a top corner36 to a bottom corner 38 in the area which would be provided with afulcrum lug 40 in a standard coupler lock. It is the removal of lug 40,thereby generating a flat front surface 34, which allows the improvedoperation resulting from this invention.

Referring once again to FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 1 shows the standardcoupling device with the improved lock in its lockset position. In thisposition, surface 34 rests against lug 8. Because of the removal offulcrum lug 40, there is no interlock with lug 8. Instead, lock 26 isfree to slide rather than pivot relative to lug 8.

Movement of arm 16 causes rotation of hook l8 and, through articulatedlinkage 20 and 24, movement of lug 24. Lock 26 is engaged and caused toleave its lockset position and move to its knuckle-throwing positionshown in FIG. 2. Lock 26 slides relative to lug8 to a point where uppercorner 36 of lock 26 engages the area at or near the intersection of topwall 4 and front wall 6 of coupler head 2. Upon engagement, lock 26pivots about a point at or near its corner 36, and thereby causesknuckle thrower 14 to throw knuckle 10.

Lock 26 pivots about its corner 36 rather than lug 40 of a standardlock. Thus, the lever arm relative to knuckle thrower 14 is greater forthe improved lock than would be the case for a standard lock. Inaddition, there is no resistance to the throwing of the knuckle due toscoring or misalignment of the lugs.

It has been found with this improved lock that the force required tothrow the knuckle is 26 pounds. This represents a significantimprovement over, the 36 pounds found necessary to throw the knuckle ina representative sample of a coupler incorporating a standardlock.

A significant advantage of this invention is that the improved lock maybe used with standard A.A.R. couplers. The improved lock may be cast inits new form; it may be machined from a standard lock by removingfulcrum lug 40 to provide a smooth front surface 34.

The improved lock may be used with either the A.A.R. standard E or Fcouplers. Indeed, it may be used with any similar couplers.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed herein,it should be understood that variations and modifications thereof may bemade without departing from its scope. It is intended that the inventionbe limited only by the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A coupling device comprising a head defining an upper corner and afront wall having a rearwardly extending lug, a knuckle throwablysupported by said head, knuckle-throwing means associated with said headfor throwing said knuckle, a lock associated with said head and saidknuckle-throwing means for movement from a lockset position to athrowing position in which said knuckle-throwing means throws saidknuckle, said lock having an upper corner and a sub- 3,767,062 3 i 4stantially flat front surface, said surface being slidably subsequentmovement of said lock from said lockset engageable with said lug duringinitial movement of position to said throwing position and means formovsaid lock and said corners being engageable for pivotal ing saidlock. movement of said surface away from said lug during

1. A coupling device comprising a head defining an upper corner and afront wall having a rearwardly extending lug, a knuckle throwablysupported by said head, knuckle-throwing means associated with said headfor throwing said knuckle, a lock associated with said head and saidknuckle-throwing means for movement from a lockset position to athrowing position in which said knuckle-throwing means throws saidknuckle, said lock having an upper corner and a substantially flat frontsurface, said surface being slidably engageable with said lug duringinitial movement of said lock and said corners being engageable forpivotal movement of said surface away from said lug during subsequentmovement of said lock from said lockset position to said throwingposition and means for moving said lock.